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The importance of goals and breaking them…

June 1, 2020
Advice, Development, Macro, Opinion
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The humble bee knows what it needs to do. It doesn’t need to think about it at all.

At the grand old age of… (nearly 50), I am quite late to the party. I’ve always been pretty ambitious. Probably more ambitious than many people who know me realise. My ambition has been fortunate though. I never seemed to reach my full potential. I always felt I could achieve more. Don’t we all feel like this at times?

I never used to really set goals, I never really had a plan or strategy to get to where I wanted to go. I had a vague idea on the destination but lacked the visualisation. You see a vague idea is fine, I guess. I suppose that is a goal, but it’s not going to drive you.

There are times for a bee when it seems there is plenty, it’s all right there for the taking.

A dream or a goal is fine, but just having that is not going to get you there. I don’t even mean you have to have a super dream or goal. It might just be ‘to be happy’. That seems simple enough? Is it?

Write it down!

Now be it!

Easy right?

Didn’t think so. So what have I learned on my [nearly] fifty year journey? It’s taken a while, but I’ve learned that to achieve any goal, you need to analyse it, find out more about it. Break it down into bite size chunks and tackle each chunk one at a time. Make a strategy and a time line that you can work towards. Be realistic and have honesty with yourself. Don’t just pick a goal because, well, someone else has it or you think it’s what is expected. Have your own goals, set them, really analyse them. How can you achieve them?

Breaking them down into chunks, is the first step. Now comes the really hard part…

Do them.

As Lao Tzu said, “the journey of a thousand miles starts with one step”, and it’s true. Also some goals will feel more like a thousand mile journey too.

There is nothing quite as exciting as reaching a goal that has taken you time to achieve.

Best laid plans and chomping on a bit or reality

August 7, 2013
Development, Portraits
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With a blog comes great responsibility…….or does it?

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I look here today and realise that it has been almost two weeks since my last post.  Me bad!  Wait though, there is a reason for it.  I have been really busy trying to rush those last bits of work before I go on a break with my family on Friday.  I know, I hate hearing myself say it.  Busy just seems like a lame reason.

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So what have I been doing?  Well the fact of the matter is babies, or new born’s.  A particular genre that really is a skill and there is no substitute for experience.  Well photographically I have committed a cardinal sin, in my eyes out of necessity. These shots have to be done in a very small window of opportunity at a time when a new family scrambles to get used to the tremendous upheaval.  So the plan was to offer a few (small number) new families the chance to get some portraits of their new baby at absolutely no charge.  There will be photographers now swooning at this as the something for nothing situation is what has got this industry into it’s condition.

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In my defence, I had not shot babies this young before, my studio was not equipped for it and I really was not sure what to expect.  All facts that I ensured the parents were made aware of before hand.  You can’t exactly tell a ten day old baby what to do can you?

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A chance to play with new ideas, new colours, new styles was amazing, a recent trip to the UK meant I could pick up some simple supplies like wooden flooring and some really amazing blankets.

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The end results?  Well after all they are subjective and I fully understand that not everyone will like them but the response from the parents has been amazing.  I have another string to my bow and I do feel that my photography has made a step too.